Mood Swings
by Lady of the Wingnuts
Summary: Paige wakes up one morning to find something strange next to her.... PaigeChris not related, so this is semiAU, PiperLeo, Phoebe? DISCONTINUED
1. The Morning After

Okay, this is my first fic EVER. So I'm a little nervous. Constructive criticism is welcome, but flames are really just pointless.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the masterpiece, 'Charmed' and if this is in any way resembled to work you wrote or read it is purely coincidence.  
  
Chapter One: The First Morning  
  
Paige Matthews rolled onto her stomach, wrapping thin crème-colored sheets around her icy shoulders. She frowned as the sun kissed the window, and an awful golden glare glinted, penetrating her eyelids and condemning her to wake-up. This was the one time she wished she was skill the goddess of war. She could've blown up the horrid star and gone back to bed. She rotated to the other side of the bed and frowned, as responsibility beckoned her to the waking world. Damn it.  
  
She stayed still for a moment, and could feel her heart beating against a hand curled up to her chest. Just for an excuse to stay in bed longer, she decided to examine if it matched her breathing. She strained her ears only to find something odd that startled her. She wasn't the only one in her bed.  
  
Paige's eyes snapped open to see her white lighter sleeping soundly next to her, his bare chest rising and falling with each calming breath. It took her a moment to realize he probably wasn't wearing anything on under there. /This is bad, very, very bad! / Paige calmed her racing heart and peeked under the sheets. She certainly wasn't wearing anything. /Put two and two together Paige, /she thought to herself.  
  
She turned onto her back and tried to sort out bewildered theories of how they had ended up together. like this. together. She thought about the night before. Phoebe had decided to take Piper out for a girl's night, but Paige passed on it, volunteering to baby-sit Wyatt. She was playing with him when Chris orbed in, with a distinct lack of reason and they had talked, about trivial things, her past, her super-witch phase. She finally sang Wyatt to sleep, and blushed from Chris's compliment on her singing. Fast-forward a bit and they had walked down to the kitchen to. and then a void popped up in Paige's memory. She had absolutely no idea what had happened. /Well, since I don't know- Chris is in SO much trouble./  
  
Paige hesitated a minute. Chris had such an angelic look on his face when he slept. She couldn't figure out why, but Chris had an odd glow to him. Not the typical blue-lights glow, just some sort of sad aura. /Sad but hot. I didn't just think that. / Paige mentally shook herself, before grabbing his shoulder and shaking him slightly.  
  
"Chris. Chris!" she whispered urgently. Chris's head stirred slightly and Paige was about to harshly question him, when he rolled over and pinned her down with his arm, burying his face into her fiercely red hair. He let out a deep, contented moan and started to unconsciously run his hand over Paige's (covered) thigh. "Okay, that was unexpected." Paige mused, frowning slightly. Butterflies were running laps in her stomach, and she could feel Chris's warm breath on her neck. "Get your head out of the clouds!" Paige advised herself, gently lifting Chris's hand off her. Only one way to make sure something like that didn't happen again. Paige took a deep breath and with a good portion of her strength, shoved him off the bed.  
  
She hadn't really considered the possibility that Chris might accidentally take the whole sheet when he sprawled out next to the bed with a loud thump, leaving Paige naked on the bed. She emitted a small screech and scrambled for a pillow, leaping off the opposite side before Chris could see her.  
  
"What the hell." she heard him state wearily. A second later, his head poked over the side of the bed to see her wide, horrified child's eyes staring at him. He raised an eyebrow. After having something push him off a bed, he was surprised to see Paige crouching beside the bed, clutching a pillow to her body. "What are you doing here?" he questioned, rubbing a sore spot on the back of his head, squinting his eyes to spare them from the morning light.  
  
"What am I doing here? This is my room!" she responded angrily, turning her stare into a glare. He was supposed to be the one with the answers!  
  
"Why aren't you wearing anything?" he asked gruffly, trying to ignore the obvious question. He started to stand up and wrapped the sheet around his waist. Paige realized he could see more of her than she would have preferred and ripped of the matching bed cover. Chris rubbed his temples as Paige stood up defiantly.  
  
"Same to you, I'm the one who can't remember how the heck we ended up like this!" she retorted.  
  
Chris grimaced. Come to think of it, what had happened?  
  
Well...... how was it? Please review! I need encouragement! 


	2. The Morning After cont'd

HI! It's me again. Sorry it took me so long and then take in the fact that this chapter is kinda boring. I really didn't have a plot when I began this, so I had to over come a major writer's blockage. Then I got sick and had to stay out of school a week with my head pounding. I mostly slept through the whole thing when I wasn't in blinding pain. Then I had to catch up in school and I'm pulling off an all-nighter to do all my work. But I felt I had to update for my loyal 17 reviewers. So here it is. You'll receive a little action in the second chapter I promise.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the masterpiece, 'Charmed' and if this is in any way resembled to work you wrote or read it is purely coincidence. You know the drill.  
  
Chapter Two: The Morning After (cont'd)  
  
Nothing. Chris could not remember a single thing that had happened past nine thirty the night before.  
  
"Wait, you can't remember anything either?" he inquired to Paige, who was busy pulling a baby blue silk robe from her closet. She made a dissatisfied growl and finally let the sheet she had been wearing fall to the floor, settling around gleaming red pedicured toenails.  
  
"Did I act like I did when I shoved you off *my* bed?" she snapped, walking toward him menacingly. "*You* are my damn white lighter, *you* are supposed to know these kind of things!" she continued, pointing her finger straight between his eyes.  
  
Chris backed up a step from the livid and confused witch, sorting out what Paige was thinking. She was obviously distressed, but however, she was one of the Charmed Ones, and she had seen quite a few shocking things, from dead people to demon guts. Of course, nobody really expects to wake up completely devoid of the knowledge that they crawled into bed with someone else. You usually got a blur if you were drunk, or so Chris had heard. He'd never really had the experience.  
  
"Well.. why am I supposed to be all knowing?" he retorted, folding his hands over his chest, enacting the beginning of a small child's tantrum. Paige rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated gasp, surveying the muddle her room had become. Her clothes from the previous night were lying in a heap two feet from the door, her silky, blood red comforter rolled up at the foot of the bed with dark-washed jeans poking out from under. And then- it hit her.  
  
"You broke Artemis!" Paige exclaimed, kneeling down to gather broken parts of a porcelain doll, which had once been a girl with ravishing black hair and a brown tunic. "Ugh! That was gift from Phoebe!" she growled, rising to set the pieces on her vanity. It was Chris's turn to roll his eyes.  
  
"If the obvious theory of what happened last night is what you're insinuating disfigured your small, dear to heart, Greek goddess of nature doll- *we* broke Artemis." Paige narrowed her eyes to barely a slit, before holding out her palm-up hand.  
  
"Sheet." Blue-lights swirled around Chris from the waist down before the sheet itself disappeared. Paige got a split-second view of Chris completely -er- unwrapped, before he orbed out. Taking one last look around her room, Paige noticed her bed was fairly off-centered.  
  
"We must have done something *pretty* wild.."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Phoebe Haliwell had always thought of herself as a hopeless romantic. Not to dependent or damsel-in-distress like, but romantic and loving when she felt the occasion called for it. Of course, it was pretty hard to do over the Internet, to a guy in Hong Kong, whose emails occasionally showed up in Chinese. /Such is the price of long-distance love/ Phoebe thought to herself sullenly.  
  
Logging off her computer, she stretched out in her chair, straining the fabric of her silk nightgown and decided to go downstairs for some coffee. Coffee good. It worked wonders when one was returning from a party night with her older sister. Phoebe could feel Piper was still dealing, but able to have a good time. Still- she had drank a little too much alcohol and was still sleeping. Luckily, tonight the club wasn't open tonight, so they didn't have much to worry about. As she walked down the hall, she heard a large thump from Paige's room, but only shrugged it off, too tired to deal with either of her sisters' antics.  
  
By the time the coffee was ready, Paige had walked in, already dressed in a tight black shirt, pinstriped mini-skirt and a large black boots that resembled shoes worn in combat. Her hair was pulled back in two French Braids and she was rubbing her eyes exhaustedly.  
  
"Hey Pheebs, have you seen Chris anywhere?" She asked casually. Phoebe frowned. A little *too* casually.  
  
"Why do you ask?" Phoebe could sense nervous energy surrounding Paige. She was keeping something from her. " I'm getting an odd, secretive vibe from you." Phoebe added. Paige only gave her an inquisitive frown and poured coffee into her mug.  
  
"You know, I kinda thought an empath would be wise and mysterious, not straightforward and a little annoying." Paige said. Phoebe crossed her legs and sat back in her chair knowingly.  
  
"I can be, but only if you tell me what's going on with our new whitelighter." She teased in a singsong voice.  
  
"Nothing is going on, can't I just be a little concerned about my whitelighter!" Paige said between gritted teeth- just as the steaming coffee overflowed onto her hand and the counter. "OW, shit that's hot!" she exclaimed, hastily setting the coffee down and running toward the sink. She sighed in relief as chilled water rushed over her throbbing, burned skin.  
  
"Sheesh, someone's a wittle defensive," Phoebe commented. She took a kitchen rag and began to mop up the coffee, which had already spread like a virus over Piper's spotless countertop. Paige turned off the water and wiped off her hand, frowning as she did so.  
  
"Well, you just sounded a little *suggestive* and I'm cranky, I.. had a weird migraine last night." There it was again, Paige wasn't telling the truth. Phoebe glanced up for a moment, but decided not to press at it. Paige would come around. Eventually.  
  
"I'm sowwy, I'm sowwy," Phoebe said in her odd little toddler voice. She wrapped her arms around Paige's stomach and laid her head just below the other woman's neck. "Can 'da cwanky lady evew forwgive me?" Paige giggled slightly at Phoebe's frolics and patted her hand.  
  
"She will only forgive you if she gets coffee." Paige answered. Phoebe grinned and let go of her. Blue lights suddenly flickered and a familiar jingle rang in their ears as Chris orbed into their kitchen. Paige averted her eyes and took a long sip form her coffee while Phoebe placed her hands on her hips in a defiant stance.  
  
"Don't even try it Chris, this is my day off. I am not going demon hunting." She accused him fiercely. Chris folded his arms and proceeded to crush her hopes of a normal day.  
  
"Ah, but this time, I have an official order from the Elders, you have to go today." He stated, seemingly satisfied that they had to go this time. Pheobe glared daggers, swords and an array of other sharp objects at him, while Paige was apparently extremely interested in her coffee. "Besides, it's been a few weeks since you vanquished any demons."  
  
"Well whose trying to take over the world, steal the Book of Shadows, steal Wyatt, destroy the world or rule the Underworld?" Paige mumbled between sips, now acting fascinated with the fact that coffee was.. well, coffee. It was also fairly obvious she was avoiding Chris' cloudy, gray- eyed gaze. Chris did his best to ignore her in return and continued.  
  
"None of the above. Apparently the Darklighters sent an envoy of peace to the centaurs, the Guardians of the Gates. Negotiations were going on when the prince found one of the darklighters wandering the village, supposedly recording the hidden secrets. They got into a fight and," Chris paused for effect; partly to see if the two witches were actually were actually listening. Phoebe was leaning on the counter in a sort of stupor and Paige was.. pouring more coffee. "Well, not that you're interested in the least, but while they were fighting, the darklighter shot the prince with an arrow and the arrow's poison actually took effect. He died just this morning."  
  
The only thing to be heard was Paige drinking a surely unhealthy amount of coffee. Well, it was only nine in the morning; sooner or later they'd have to wake up. "So I want you, Paige and Piper to get dressed in something, well, that you can possibly hunt demons in." It would be much harder if Phoebe stayed in her strappy, knee-length, hot pink nightgown. She rolled her eyes and dragged herself to the doorway, plodding exhausted up the stairs. Now Chris and Paige were all alone.  
  
"Well, I'm off to check the Book of Shadows!" Paige said hastily setting down her coffee with a spattering thud. "Let's get this over with, I have a new job at three, I don't want to be late! Bye!" She made a break for the door only to be stopped by an orbing Chris.  
  
"Hold on a minute! We have to figure out what happened between you and me last night." Chris commanded. /I do *not* need this right now/ Paige thought, perturbed. She really just wanted to get this over with.  
  
"We can work on that tonight. Right now we just pretend it never happened."  
  
" How are we sure anything happened at all? We have to find out!" said Chris urgently. Paige rolled her eyes and tried to wiggle out of the grip he'd taken on her shoulders out of instinct.  
  
"Well we can do it later. Right now, we're off to see the centaurs, remember?" She queried angrily. She jerked her arms out of Chris' grip.  
  
"Are you sure you're up to it, because you're going to have to wear a bra for once." That was a little overboard. He only realized about a second after he said it and turned to his only escape route and disappeared for the second time that day in a flash of blue lights.  
  
"Bastard." Paige muttered with disgust.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Umm........... How was it? Ya, it probably sucked, but oh well. Does anyone actually know what color Chris' eyes are? 


	3. Centaur Complex

Hi again, sorry I update so seldomly. I'm just lazy, but it's finally here. I'm taking way too long with this, but oh well. Thanks to Rory Summers for telling me that my guess on Chris' eyes was wrong. But that's okay 'cause I like brown eyes. They're adorable and they remind me of chocolate! Mmm, endorphins!  
  
Last weeks episode of Charmed made me soooooooo mad. Bianca was a slut (remember, this is just my opinion, I don't need flames) and Chris and Paige are meant to BE TOGETHER DAMN IT! (again, just my opinion) I might incorporate some of it, like Chris being a half-breed and Wyatt being evil. Speak of the devil, I thought they made Wyatt kind of hot in a rugged, buff, Chad Kroeger-ish sense. (again, this is just my opinion) Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, Chris, Paige, the Chad Kroeger-Wyatt, or even Chad, and I thankfully don't own Bianca.  
  
Chapter 3: The Centaur Complex  
  
"Well, is there any particular magical object you possess they could've wanted?" Piper inquired cautiously. This investigation was going nowhere. Standing protectively in front of her sisters, the looming centaur king was almost frightening the witch. However, fighting demons for almost six years had not gone by without providing a certain amount of bravado. Which was probably why Phoebe and Paige didn't completely appreciate her taking command, while balancing a baby on her hip. Wyatt cooed quietly and the king replied.  
  
"We have no objects, no secrets, no atrocious mishaps to hide, until.." he paused and let his gaze sweep the dirt ground. From the waist down he was a great steed, his hair glossy and royal with feathered hooves of white. The rest of him was a sleek, largely muscled man with shoulder length black hair and a leather band around his temple to symbolize his rank. For all his strength and his regal state, sorrow would eternally flank him. He seemed to regain his voice. "Until we let our guard down for the hopes of peace, and were forevermore stained." So that explained the pointy spears directed at the Charmed Ones. Paige shifted uneasily on her feet. She got an odd vibe from the guards, who seemed to stare at her unblinkingly and Phoebe was too caught up in the vibe from the king to notice. She had to say something.  
  
"No offense, your *majesty*, but we're the good guys." Paige offered. Phoebe jabbed her elbow into Paige's ribs and two guards stepped toward them menacingly. Paige seemed to shrink back as the king glared at her.  
  
"We have suffered a great loss! I must see to it that no other father in my land need bury his only son!" he roared. Paige lowered her eyes respectfully. Today was not her day to bring out anybody's good side. She put an arm around Phoebe tenderly, who was nearly in tears from the king's sorrow. Wyatt clung to his mother fearfully and Piper hoisted him higher on her hip.  
  
"King Mordya, as a parent, I can only imagine your tragedy." She said courteously. "But if we cooperate, we can bring your son's killer to justice. We give you our word." Mordya glowered at her for a moment as if trying to see how much resistance she had. /If I distort my vision, he looks kind of like to Rock/ Piper thought. He eventually seemed to relax in acceptance of her.  
  
"The word of a witch, " he mused, giving the other two the same test as Piper. "Not much, if all I have is urgings that you are, 'the good guys'." He said, eyeing Paige. For a minute he studied her, not saying anything. Phoebe finally spoke up.  
  
"If you don't mind, we'd like to go to the burial ceremony to pay our respects and maybe see if we meet anyone who might have had motives to allow the Darklighter in the village." The king gave her a questioning glance. "Well you said that they were well guarded and the most obvious answer to how he got in is that someone betrayed you." Mordya made a cross between and sigh and a scoff.  
  
"My men are loyal to me. You may investigate as you wish, but remember you will have an escort to watch over you." Again, he glanced at Paige. He then turned to the door and two guards followed him. Wyatt giggled and held out his small toddler's hand, summoning a simple pendant made up of blue and white jewels from around the king's neck. Mordya stopped dead in his tracks just as Piper's heart froze. Quickly, her hand flew up and began to pry at the necklace.  
  
" Honey," She coaxed nervously." Give the nice king his necklace back, or else mommy's gonna be screwed." Piper put on a fake smile, handling Wyatt's hand gently, fairly non-rewarded for efforts when he pulled it away again. Paige finally sent for it and handed it over to Mordya, while Wyatt began to whine.  
  
"This was a gift from the Wanderer." Mordya said, almost venomously, the sound of his voice hard and cold. Paige stumbled back slightly, only to salvage her courage and step in front of Piper and the sobbing Wyatt. As if molding clay, Mordya's face changed into an ecstatic smile. "But it has been long since I enjoyed the antics of a young child." With that, he swept out of the hut. Paige released a breath of relief.  
  
"Sounds like he hasn't enjoyed much of anything in a while." She observed sarcastically. Piper frowned.  
  
"Well, you can't blame the guy, he just lost his son when he was trying to think about the good of his people." She said. Wyatt's crying finally stopped and he was toying with the amulet around her own neck. Paige didn't really know what it was like to be a mother.  
  
"And you two bickering isn't going to help us figure out *why* he was murdered. " Phoebe intervened. "What do the centaurs have that Darklighters would want?" she whispered just loud enough for the others to hear her.  
  
" Well, I have an idea. We can stop wasting our time and go investigate." Paige said, whirling around to the archway that led to the village. But something blocked her path. Paige gasped as a tall palomino centaur took her into his considerably large arms and cradled her against his sweaty chest.  
  
"Hello, and what do we have here?" he stated smoothly.  
  
"What the hell!?" Paige shrieked. She tried to wrestle her way out, but he only gripped tighter and she finally orbed behind Phoebe and Piper. He glared at her and started toward her, but Piper stepped in his way, her hands up and ready to freeze.  
  
"Hold it lover.. horse." She struggled with word choice. "My sister *has* a boy toy, and what makes *you* think you could just do that to a Charmed One?" The centaur looked bewildered.  
  
"A Charmed One?" he said disbelievingly. "How can she be when she has the aura of a nymph?" Piper scowled. Paige's turn to the nymph side had been last year, but how could he know that. She had considered upon hearing that only certain magical creature could be turned into nymphs that it was could have been something unique in Paige's blood or something, but she had quickly jumped back to the theory of emotions. Piper shook her head, knowing it was too urgent to ponder right now.  
  
"So just because of her aura, it's okay to fondle her?" Piper asked.  
  
"Centaurs are naturally attracted to nymphs, the ladies of the forests have always brought out their animal sides." The centaur informed her. "She just has the aura of one, and I picked up on it." The centaur seemed remorseful enough. He arched into a bow and acted contritely. "My apologies, I did not know." Paige adjusted her shirt indifferently and began to shout.  
  
"CHRIS, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE NOW!" yelled toward the ceiling. The centaur swept himself up again and covered his ears. In a swirl of blue orbs, an annoyed Chris was standing before her.  
  
"You rang?" he said in a peeved tone.  
  
"Why didn't you tell us centaurs were naturally attracted to nymphs?" Paige asked vehemently. Chris arched an eyebrow.  
  
"I didn't think it was relevant since you're a witch."  
  
"Well, you could've at least given us some background information before you sent your *charges* gallivanting off like that." She replied fervently, scowling at him, curling her fingers in fists, and stretching the long sleeves of her gray blouse.  
  
"Look it's not my fault you can act and dress like a nympho!" he finally bellowed back. Phoebe's mouth dropped wide open at the openness of Chris' insult. It dropped even wider when electric blue streams erupted from Paige's fingertips and threw Chris against the wall of the hut, making the rough structure shake slightly. Piper and Phoebe took a step back and shielded their eyes, the centaur reared on his hind legs and Wyatt clapped at the bright lights. Paige flung herself to the ground and covered her head. Chris sat up and clutched his chest, looking at Paige in incredulity. The centaur cast a questioning look at the sisters still left standing.  
  
"Shall I tell the king you'll be late?" Piper and Phoebe gave him a 'duh' look and he backed out the covered archway. Paige looked up toward them through her wildly tossed hair.  
  
"Oops."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry I made Chris so mean, it's just so they can make up and make love. *pinches self* I need to get my mind out of the gutter. 


	4. Pride and Pickled Hen's Eyes

HELLO! I haven't updated in a while and you all probably want to fillet me alive, but in fear of fellow author rage, I decided to sit my fat ass in a chair and update! Which unfortunately is a big accomplishment for me; just imagine what it's like during bad spells. I just bought X2 on DVD and PYRO IS HOTTTTTTTTTTTTT! *sighs* So amazingly HOT! Mmmm, I feel warm just thinking about him... yum. Which reminds me, I'm never ever going to mention Chris' eyes again, 'cause I'm too lazy to really find out. I have problems. Here is the next chapter. Ya'know, I still haven't read Pride and Predjudice... can't even spell prejudice right without spell check.  
  
Chapter 4: Pride and Pickled Hen's Eyes  
  
Oops? Oops, friggin', *oops*. Paige had just electrocuted Chris and this was all she had to say for it? Piper inwardly reminded herself of both her sister's momentary flashes of stupidity and proceeded to question Paige.  
  
"Honey, I can see *why* you fried Simon Cowell over there," She gestured over toward Chris who frowned, trying to flatten his hair, which was now standing up on all ends like an afro. "But the pressing question is how the hell *did* you fry him?" Paige kneeled on the hard dirt floor and examined her hands, still teeming with raw energy. She had felt this sensation before... but where? She hadn't made it a hobby to play with electrical circuits in her childhood, so that couldn't explain it.  
  
"I don't know," Paige said incredulously, coughing out at the sawdust trying to enter her nostrils, "I just got really angry-"  
  
"I wonder why?" Phoebe mused, sending a stern glance over to Chris as he stood up and brushed himself off indignantly.  
  
"I was just stating an opinion." Several loud, explosive sneezes and a minor cough later, he was staring at Piper fulsomely. "Besides she was supposed to check the Book of Shadows anyway." Paige paused from a stance of halfway to standing, covered in sawdust and dirt, with her hair sticking out at odd angles, just now understanding now her blunder.  
  
"We'll discuss that later. You okay?" Piper called to Chris, who was standing only with the support of the grimy hut walls.  
  
" Yeah, being electrocuted is just what I was trying to-to-ACHOO!" He sneezed again.  
  
"Really, because that comment about nymphos was really a greatly disguised compliment, wasn't it?" A great roar cut off Chris' reply.  
  
"Hey, ya'know, there's a lot of confused feeling in this room, and probably angry horse-people ready to trample us outside, so I've got a plan." Phoebe intervened nervously, as Piper gave voltage-girl a looked that spelled D-E- A-T-H. Wyatt was playing with her hair, which didn't help her mood.  
  
The mixed voices were growing and the palomino's bass voice was graduating to worried. He couldn't hold up too many volatile centaurs for much longer. "How about Paige stops using her powers until we get some help, Chris promises to stop being mean and take her and Wyatt home, and Piper and I finish up the investigation. All for the motion say 'Ay'." One glance around and the motion was passed.  
  
Suddenly, they could all hear angry shouts and were able to tell the centaurs were riled. And if Paige truly had the aura of a nymph, they would be all over her. Wyatt let out a wail of trepidation and Piper patted his head.  
  
"What the heck?" She exclaimed.  
  
Several centaurs suddenly galloped into the hut, looming ominously. Piper and Phoebe instinctively turned to face them, but the half horsemen had already surrounded the Power of Three. Wyatt began to all out bawl, sensing the urgency of the situation, and put up a force field around him and his mother. Two centaurs stood beside them, spears sharpened and pointing at them. Paige gasped as a chestnut colored one forebodingly jerked Chris forward and sent him vaulting to the ground next to Piper and Phoebe. Big mistake. Her small sound of horror alerted her to the centaur and he paused a moment. Paige froze as his eyes met hers and his eyes misted over with a look of what she interpreted as a look of pure evil.  
  
"Well, well, well..." he mulled, striding easily over to Paige's meager spot of ground. She whimpered slightly and Piper began to viciously fight back.  
  
"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE DAMN IT," Piper shrieked, running forward to aid her baby sister. Wyatt let down his force field, but a blue-roan centaur grabbed her shoulders effectively restraining her and her freezing power with unnecessary strength. She threatened anyway. "OR I WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU-" The blue-roan, put his other hand onto her mouth, to the point of wincing as she bit him. Luckily she was still able to hold her sobbing son.  
  
"I had no idea the king was entertaining such company." The chestnut continued as he leaned down to evaluate Paige. "We shall have to see how...*entertaining* you are."  
  
Paige knew she had generally two seconds to either orb out or figure a plan to save her sisters, both of whom had been restricted from helping her. One second later, she knew she had to save her sisters, and needed a plan to save them and not create a war between witches and centaurs, who they were there to help anyway. Of course, with one second left, she couldn't figure out a proficient plan and decided she might just have to wing it.  
  
Another second later, Chris leapt in front of her.  
  
"She's mine." He said, spreading his arms in a possessive gesture. The centaur reared on his hind legs, then settled on the ground. Chris glanced at Piper and Phoebe uncertainly and continued. "As in we're dating, she's Charmed and you can't touch her." 'Charmed' rang a very, very, shocking bell with the centaurs, because all of the sudden, they were bowing to the witches. Wyatt put up another force field anyway, and Phoebe rubbed her wrists, sore from the spotted centaurs grip. The chestnut didn't share the sentiments.  
  
"You lie." He said harshly, twisting into a livid scowl.  
  
"Well, if you don't believe me, believe this." Chris challenged. "The soldiers of your kind have an acute sense of smell. Inspect a little closer, her scent is all over me." The chestnut slowly leaned forward, sniffing slightly at Chris' neck and head.  
  
"Very well, she is your woman." He confirmed hastily, backing away. Paige took his comment as an insult, but held her ground, literally digging her nails into the ground to hold back a shriek of "I AM NOT!"  
  
"We shall leave you to your business," he continued, motioning for the soldiers to exit the hut. "Just as soon as I get an explanation for the commotion."  
  
"Oh, come on!" Phoebe barked. "We're the Charmed Ones," She said, putting her hands on her hips. "You think a dinky hut like this is contain all our magic-"  
  
"What she means is," Piper interrupted, trying to cover up Phoebe's sudden ego size. "We were trying a, um, evilness spell, yah see, to track the evil, darklighter energy?" The centaur rolled his eyes and exited the hut.  
  
Everyone seemed to let a withheld sigh of relief. Wyatt began to play with his mother's hair some more, Phoebe was rubbing her temples tiredly, and Piper basically just shifted Wyatt from one hip to the other. Chris turned around and held his hand out for to help Paige from the ground. She glared at him and rapidly stood up herself. Chris grunted in frustration.  
  
"Thanks Chris," He mocked in a high-pitched voice. "You just saved me from getting raped by the evil horse."  
  
"First off, I am not a thing to be owned!" She spat, closing in on Chris like he was her unknowing prey. "I am a *Charmed* one, they shouldn't just back off because you tell them I'm *your* woman!" She ranted. "How do you get off asking for a thank you, when if you hadn't made me mad, this never would have happened?"  
  
"Well sorry for trying to make up for your mistake, you should have checked Book of Shadows in the first place."  
  
"You shouldn't be calling me a slut to begin with!"  
  
"I never called you a slut!"  
  
"Oh, really, because that comment about the bra didn't insinuate anything."  
  
"That's not the point of the conversation!"  
  
"Well that's how the whole thing began!"  
  
"SHUT UP, YOU PATHETIC CHILDREN!" Phoebe shrieked. Both Chris and Paige opened up their mouths to say something such as, "He/She started it" but Phoebe held up her hands. "You two are acting so hostile that I can't focus!" The offenders looked at the ground in shame. "We will sort this out when the investigation is over- did you say something about a bra?" Both Chris and Paige grew red. "I don't want to know, do I?"  
  
"You two," Piper said, walking forward. "Are going to go home, sit down and work this out." She handed Wyatt to Paige. "When you are finished, Chris will go to the Elders to see what's up with Paige. Do I make myself clear?" Chris and Paige nodded their heads. "And until then, Paige, I would appreciate it if you didn't use your powers for the time being." Paige muttered a brief "Yes" and Chris grabbed both her shoulders to orb them out.  
  
Piper shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe how immature those two are acting, the nerve-"  
  
"How did Chris pull it off?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Pull what off?" Piper inquired, shuffling off toward the door.  
  
"Tricking the centaur into believing Paige and he are going out." Phoebe reminded her, falling into stride with her sister as they pulled back the door, sunlight pouring onto them.  
  
"Maybe he got it from the fact that Miss-I-Like-To-Play-With-Electrical- Cords, I don't know, ELECTROCUTED HIM." Piper said severely. If Paige had just checked the Book of Shadows, they could've avoided the whole thing. Sometimes she was just too irresponsible for her own good. As they came into full view of the square, a bonfire could be seen, soldier centaurs holding weapons high in someone's honor. /The Prince/ Piper realized, with a slight tug at her own heart, thinking that that could horribly be her own son.  
  
"That would be a type of magical vibe thing, not scent." Phoebe continued, obviously in her own Detective Phoebe mode. "They've usually gotten along, and now they're at each other's throats. Something's up with them."  
  
They rounded the bonfire over to a gathering of woman, preparing a feast for the centaurs. An array of foods they had never seen before decked a table with elegant cloth beneath it. The women themselves were witches dedicated to helping the earth, and would often deal with the centaurs, allying in any conflict.  
  
"Well, we'll have to worry about that later." Piper assumed. A slightly bent woman abruptly came before them and held out a tray of what looked nauseatingly like small animal eyes.  
  
"Pickled 'ens eye for ya' dearies." She cackled, shoving the tray in front of them. Piper and Phoebe exchanged glances. They would have to worry about Chris and Paige *much* later.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
At the Haliwell Manor, things were going differently. Meaning, insults were thrown freely around as if in a tennis match. As Chris orbed Paige and Wyatt in, both the (supposed) adults shouted in pain.  
  
"You shocked me!" Chris alleged, studying his now red fingers. Paige shoved past him to the conservatory, and set Wyatt down into his playpen, decked with stuffed animals and rattles.  
  
"If you do that ever again-" Paige began.  
  
"What, save your life?"  
  
Paige rolled her eyes. "What the hell did I ever do to you?" She asked angrily, throwing her hands up in frustration.  
  
"For one, you sent about ten-thousand volts of electricity through me." Chris replied sarcastically.  
  
"Because you called me a SLUT!"  
  
"I DID NOT CALL YOU A SLUT!" Chris shouted, turning his back to her and heading for the attic. A seriously P.O'd Paige followed him, not intending for him to get off so easily.  
  
"Where are you going?" She asked shrilly, stomping up the stairs behind her whitelighter. Chris paused and wheeled around, irritation written all over his face, staring down at his charge.  
  
"To find out why we woke up together this morning!" He said, gritting and grinding his pearly whites. Paige put her hands on her hips defiantly. Chris annoyed her; he annoyed the hell out of her. She wanted nothing more than to shove him down the stairs and fry him to a crisp with what was apparently her new power. She wanted to then grind his ashes into a fine ebony powder and feed it to a rabid hyena. Then she wanted to chop up the hyena and serve it for breakfast. But she couldn't.  
  
"Good, because God knows, you wouldn't want to sleep with somebody's who's been *around*."  
  
"Why the hell are you so stuck on that comment?"  
  
"*Comments*, COMMENT*S*, as in PLURAL." Paige said, putting her hands on either side of Chris' face as if to force it into his head.  
  
"You know what," Chris said, pulling his face away from Paige's hands. "I just want to forget it ever happened. Then you can go on with your little boyfriend, and I can get on with my job." For some reason, Paige instantly became quiet. Only now had they even mentioned Richard.  
  
"For your information, one- I also want to forget, and two," She countered, "Richard and I happen to be on a break." She pushed past Chris to her room and slammed the door shut, tears welling in her eyes. Richard had decided to meet some other witches, seeing as his family had left him, and had met a girl. A girl. One who didn't have the pull of a destiny to fight demons or a destiny to remain with her sisters or a bad family history of never being able to keep a husband. He had broken Paige's heart, and she had been so ashamed she hadn't told her sisters. She had been so involved with her situation with Chris, that Phoebe couldn't even sense it. She fell onto her bed, and didn't plan on getting up for an hour or so.  
  
"Well, it looks like I'll be watching Wyatt." Chris muttered, disturbed at Paige's rapid departure. He turned and slumped down the stairs, strangely depressed all of the sudden. As he twisted around the end of the staircase, he heard glass break beneath his shoes. He bent down to examine a sizable piece of glass, covered in an oozing green blood. His eyes followed a trail that led to a broken picture of Leo, Piper and Wyatt, stained with the same liquid, under a mahogany table. How hadn't anybody noticed?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Protection Paige: YOU NOTICED TOO! That's where my whole inspiration came from! 


	5. Fan the Flame

I'm really really really really really sorry about how long it took. I've got some serious writer's block and this chapter is really more of a get over it than an addition, but I did manage to reveal two or three things about what's in store. Expect another Paige/Chris fight. I have no idea why, but I love writing those.  
  
Chapter Five: Fan the Flame  
  
Chris anxiously flipped through the crusty, aged parchment of the Book of Shadows, frantically searching for a demon with green blood, the ability to erase memories that the sisters hadn't *already* vanquished. Which, since he'd started an hour ago, was none. His intuition to told him it was a demon, not the Cleaners or anything and up until now, his intuition had served him well. If *somebody* would just help him...  
  
Paige was still sulking about *Richard*. Paige didn't have to tell him what it was, she'd been absolutely ogled ever since she met him, and only now was she starting to act moody. Screw him if he was the type of guy who would leave her when something better came along. Especially when he couldn't see that she was the better thing...HOLY HELL! He hated her; there was absolutely nothing between them except a fiery vengeance. One, he didn't like her, B. She never was going to the nymph thing slide and next... Damn, she was hot. Why bother denying it to himself, he loved the tight clothes she wore, and he would've given anything to remember what had happened last night.  
  
Chris tiredly rubbed his temples, and leaned against the stand with his elbows. If he weren't careful, Phoebe would find out. /Pull yourself together man! / He thought, flipping another ten pages to an entry on goblins. *Goblins*. Right about now, goblins were supposed to increase in general activity. Chris mulled over his history lessons in his mind. The Wanderer was killed, Cupid's son Eros disappeared, and goblins resurfaced from the mountains caves. Maybe he'd been too focused on immediate threats to the sisters that he'd never bothered to study the whole picture.  
  
Leo orbed in just as Chris began to study the horrendous, raw orange skinned and fanged picture staring back at him for the book. "What are you doing up here without Paige?" he asked sternly. Chris rolled his eyes and clapped the book shut, shutting his thoughts and feeling inside himself at the same time.  
  
"Just look in on centaurs again, thanks for the concern about my paper cuts." Chris replied sarcastically, smiling artificially at the Elder, just for the sake of annoyance. No one truly appreciated that as much as Chris. Come to think of it, no one really appreciated his antics at all.  
  
"I know what happened..." Leo began. Chris' heart stopped pumping and his blood chilled, freezing within his veins. Fretfulness throbbed in his head and a nervous lump rose in hi throat. He was dead, whatever he'd done. "... At the village with you and Paige, I was watching." Leo finished disapprovingly folding his arms and glaring at Chris. "And I've got two things to say to you." The color flooded back into Chris' face and he scorned himself for thinking Leo had caught on to him. The guy gave himself *way* too much credit.  
  
"Well, could you make it fast?" Chris retorted mockingly, exiting the attic and stepping down the stairs. Leo sighed gruffly and followed, clearing his throat for a miniature lecture.  
  
"When Paige electrocuted you, she manifested her new power, energy control. You'll be training her on how to focus on her power." Leo explained, as Chris unemotionally sped down another flight of stairs.  
  
"Why do I have to?" Chris asked, on the verge of whining. Leo pretended not to hear the comment.  
  
"But there's the little matter of your bickering with her."  
  
"Hey, I expressed my opinion. She took it overboard." Chris replied as he sprawled on the couch and looked up at Leo as if to tell him 'I don't care, screw off.' Leo paused a moment and glanced into the conservatory, where a rosy-cheeked, wide-eyed Wyatt was slapping away a spoon of ground peas his elf-nanny was trying to feed him. Leo had the incredible urge to go be with his son, but stayed instead to lecture Chris on the ways of the whitelighter.  
  
"Chris, you should remember that we have a job to guide our charges..."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Phoebe, you take the one on the right and I'll make a break for it!" Piper said with mock enthusiasm after having to politely force down two pickled hen's eggs and a pig leg (Phoebe: Poor piggie). She hadn't been very interested in all of Phoebe's suspicions toward Paige and Chris, much more involved in discussing possible motives and suspects with their escort. (Bane, was what he was called)  
  
"My dear," Bane laughed, "You only have a bit to go. But I would like to introduce two famed witches such as yourselves to meet someone who is quite near your standards I should hope." For someone half-animal, he was very eloquent. He lifted his head to the noon sun and his eyes twinkled merrily. "You have been her idols since I told her myths of your power in her childhood."  
  
"Man, you know how to make a woman feel old." Piper giggled, striding easily next to him as he plodded down the dirt path. Phoebe rolled her eyes as Piper and Bane continued to chat. Bane was a bit too cheerful for Phoebe to channel and Piper was just plain bored. Besides, Phoebe still had some sort of nagging feeling in the back of her head that what she had seen between Chris and Paige was more that what it seemed. Although both shared the tendency of keeping secrets and neither took insults easily, something didn't add up.  
  
While going over the incident in her head for the umpteenth time, Phoebe barely took notice that Bane was introducing them to a young woman he addressed as the Wanderer. She looked barely a day over seventeen, with a rough, navy wool cloak and hair black as a crow's feathers. Her skin was pale, white almost, and her eyes were large and jade green, her voice deep yet feminine.  
  
"Pardon me, but I have urgent business with the king." She informed them urgently after introductions. With a whip of her cloak, she had twirled and hurried off to the king, who was busy having a conversation with some guards.  
  
"Well that was quick." Piper remarked, frowning slightly toward the brisk girl. Bane shook his head sadly and turned to face both of them.  
  
"She has overworked herself since the death of her brother." Bane said unhappily.  
  
"Wait, are you talking about the prince, the crowned centaur prince?" Piper asked, feeling that the info had to be a bit mixed-up. How the hell did centaurs reproduce? There weren't any females and any other possibility was just...uhg.  
  
"Indeed, she is the daughter of a centaur and a nymph. The king is her father, making the prince her late brother." Bane told her. He quickly changed the subject seeing the look of wonder and disgust on Piper's face. "So do you have enough information from us to start your investigation?"  
  
Sighing, Piper and Phoebe nodded in sync with one another and called for Leo as Bane trotted off, head held high. According to Leo, the Wanderer was a magical being that kept the passageways between worlds safe. She had to be born of a nymph and a half-breed. A new one was born every fifty years.  
  
When they arrived at home, they could hear frantic shouts of "PUT IT OUT!" followed by screams of "WELL HOLD STILL!" and the smell of burning wood was thick in the air, coming from the second floor.  
  
"Why the hell did you leave them alone together?" Piper shouted, knowing all too well who it was, scrambling up the staircase with Phoebe close behind her. Leo shrugged and hurried after them.  
  
"I was watching when Paige electrocuted Chris and I thought that if they trained together they might be able to work things out." Another shout from the attic. "I only left them alone for five minutes!"  
  
"To what point and purpose Leo? I was hoping we could just separate the two of them... Permanently!" Piper stomped up the final flight of steps and threw the door open. Paige was patting the flaming sofa out with an old, bulky, musty old rug and Chris was lying on the ground with a black and charred shirt that was still smoking. Apparently, Paige's new power had gotten so bad, she started a few things (such as Chris) on fire. "My god, what did you say do her now?" Piper scolded, throwing her hands up in frustration. A nearby vase with blue and pink flowers imprinted on it blew up and the shards tumbled to the ground next to the wall.  
  
"He made fun of-" Paige began, childishly pointing her fingers at Chris.  
  
"Her vacant boyfriend-" Chris cut in.  
  
"We're on a break-"  
  
"You're in denial-"  
  
"You're a jerk-'  
  
"You're an idiot-"  
  
"ASSHOLE-"  
  
"BITCH-" At this comment, Paige decided that the peaceful course of action would be to thrust the rug on top of Chris and proceed to try and wring his neck. Phoebe pulled Leo into the commotion and he tried to hold back an absolutely livid Paige, while Piper pulled the rug off of Chris.  
  
"I swear, you two are acting like such children-" she began, not counting that all the anger in the room was affecting Phoebe.  
  
"HOLD IT!" Phoebe screamed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sorry about the bit of Leo-bashing, I was telling it partly from Chris' point of view. So erm, you could review, just to encourage me. Sometimes I think I'm too needy. 


	6. The Theory of Relativity

Hello, so sorry about the long wait, things at school are really twisted. I'm convinced they're trying to send us subliminal messages through the daily announcements, and they keep us at school at the very least two minutes later than we're supposed to leave. And no, I have *not* been watching too much 'That 70's Show', and hanging on to everything that a certain very hot Steven Hyde has been saying. Anyway, I might not be able to update soon seeing as I didn't turn in this really huge social studies project that I think counts for 10% of my grade. Who cares about a stupid diorama about Lewis and Clark, I saw the special at the IMAX, and then another thing in class. I think I know all I need to know.  
  
And now for the little special things responding to comments in the reviews that I... think call for some responding to.  
  
Charmed Leo: I agree, and something totally humiliating is going to happen to Richard. Promise.  
  
Protection Paige: HOW COULD THE SERIES DO THIS TO THEM! I completely agree with you, and no matter what, Chris and Paige will have their moment... but under what circumstances? *loud, twisted 'Mwhahahaha' is heard*  
  
Sassy Playa: Yeah, sorry about that, guess I didn't make that centaur thing very clear. I promise one day I'll come up with some sort of funneled version that will make sense.  
  
Dragon of Mirkwood: Iceman? Okay, I have to admit, he's cute, but Pyro is hot, Hot, HOT! Literally. Besides, my friend Crystal already claimed him. And for some weird reason, I have an odd attraction to guys with serious emotional problems. And I'm coming to the conclusion that it might be unhealthy... so is my therapist.  
  
Ori: I hate how they give Phoebe all these really cool power boosts and then Paige just goes on some sort of temp job quest. So Paige shall finally kick some 'Ass de Demon'. And, having finally decided on a plot... there's a chance for whitelighter/witch hybrids.  
  
And last, but not least, after they made Chris Piper and Leo's second son I was so sad I went and cried. Okay, I didn't really cry, I was just superly pissed. So, this plot made the AU category.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Six: Theory of Relativity  
  
Phoebe was absolutely seething. More than seething, she was livid, her anger incensed. Chris and Paige were supposed to be fine, FINE! And now they were more than ready and probably willing to kill each other and they had *no* idea how much this confused her and her stupid new power. Screw helping people, she wanted to go back to being the only one in her head. She tried a breathing exercise as every one in the room stood still, as if under Piper's freezing power, a tense and austere atmosphere settling in. Piper stood, her hands limp and surrendering at her sides, almost stoically staring at the vase she'd broken. Chris was sitting on the floor, his burnt shirt half-torn off him, obstinately frowning at Phoebe. Leo had managed to restrain the vitriolic Paige by pinning her elbows behind her back.  
  
When Phoebe had finished counting to one thousand for the fourth time, she spoke once more. "Okay, Chris, Paige, you two have some serious issues and you are going to work them out TODAY!" she spat severely, jabbing her finger in the air menacingly. "As Leo intended, you will train, under his supervision, with no talk of personal business. Piper will take some notes on darklighters and centaurs out of the Book of Shadows and I will go to work. We'll all rendezvous in the kitchen tonight at eight when I get off work. IS THIS CLEAR?" she finished sternly, putting her hands on her hips in a strict fashion. Leo let go of Paige who straightened her grey blouse and nodded weakly. Piper sighed and slumped her shoulders and Chris rolled his eyes and shoved the half-burnt rug off himself. Close enough.  
  
Phoebe practically growled under her breath and stomped down the stairs. She grabbed her laptop and was out the door within five minutes, nearly backing into the neighbor's cat. She'd long forgotten her suspicions about Paige and Chris.  
  
Piper sluggishly grabbed the Book of Shadows and headed downstairs, just in time to bid her son good-bye as Ella [2] took him for a walk and spent the better of the afternoon taking notes as Phoebe had instructed her to.  
  
Leo gave Paige and Chris a warning, which they didn't really listen to any way, and left with the promise he would be watching for 'above'. They were not to leave until they could get along. Which (fortunately for us) left Chris without a shirt.  
  
"Okay..." he began, standing the rooms full length away from Paige. "Well, like Leo said, I am the master-"  
  
"-And I am the Jedi Padawan." Paige cut in boorishly, folding her arms in a recalcitrant manner. "Just don't bore me with that 'wax on' Mr. Miyagi shit." She added as an afterthought. Chris raised a confused eyebrow and Paige realized that 'The Karate Kid' didn't exist in Chris' futuristic pop culture. "Just start showing me energy balls, or you will have no balls, if you catch my meaning."  
  
"Well, this'll be a real fun hour." Chris said wryly. "First off, uh, we," Chris paused, and perused what he knew about energy ball technique. "Let's begin. Do you know the proper beginning stance?" Chris asked, folding his arms and feeling slightly chilled now. Paige flopped down on the well-done couch and groaned, at the thought of actually having to obey Chris as her whitelighter.  
  
"No," she replied, clandestine about the many energy balls she'd orbed into her hand to defeat an enemy. Chris sighed, finally sinking into the morose knowledge that for some reason he'd let his arrogance drive Paige away, and his chances of winning her back over to his good side were somewhat assuaged. Then again, denial and certain rules hadn't favore him from the beginning anyway.  
  
"Well, just hold your arms out, and we'll start with the actual formation of an energy ball." He directed. Paige dragged her body off the couch and held her hands out with a bland expression, resembling a zombie complete with little blue baggies under her doe brown eyes. The more Chris studied her, the more apparent her imminent exhaustion became. She looked beat.  
  
"Not what I had in mind." Chris criticized bitterly under his breath. Not really bothering to think through his actions before acting, he came in behind Paige and aligned his body with Paige, arm to arm, leg to leg, hip to hip. Right after he did it, he half expected her to pull something, like elbowing his stomach and attempting to trap him in a headlock.  
  
When Chris got so close to her, for a moment, Paige seriously considered elbowing his middle and trapping him in a headlock. She took in a spiteful breath, but stopped when her breath nervously caught in her throat. Wait, since when was being held in Chris' arms when he conveniently didn't have a shirt on nerve-racking? /Point taken/ she thought to herself. But of course, she didn't *like* him like *that*. Nope. Not at all.  
  
"Uh...well, you have to, uh, hold your arms like this." Chris brought her arms together, outstretched in from of her and put one above the other, palms nearly together. At that moment, Paige felt some sort of surreptitious attraction emanating form Chris. Unspoken and perhaps unheeded, but very much there. "Now concentrate all your energy to that center. Although you energy is usually centered inside you, the trick to mastering energy throwing is to draw the energy to an outer center." /Wow, zen-master/ Paige thought, having never been exposed to Chris' wise side. It was usually his wise-ass side. But this was a tad unnerving. Inwardly shaking herself of those thoughts, she obeyed him. Taking a deep breath once more and willed the electricity that just today had shocked her veins and ignited her insides. After five second of bated breath, a tiny white spark emitted. Paige jumped at the chance and immediately the energies gathered into a sphere the size of a golf ball, hissing and crackling.  
  
"Where'd you pick up this little trick?" Paige questioned breathlessly, marveling at the minute wonder.  
  
"Future." Chris replied curtly, slowly adjusting her hands in order the lengthen the energy's size.  
  
"Nice and vague there." Paige said, evaluating his callous tone. She fought hard not to tremble when Chris rolled up her sleeves and continued to adjust her hold, his rough hand heating friction against her unmarred skin. "I don't get you." She announced simply, quietly. Chris stopped abruptly with his rather nervous actions and cleared his throat.  
  
For the next hour, Chris did something Paige thought she might never forgive. He recreated the atmosphere f 11th grade Physical Education class. Chris seemed to cover up whatever he was really feeling infallibly well, making Paige unable to taunt, feeling terribly self-conscious, as she knew Leo would get on her case if she didn't follow Chris' orders. He seemed to have forgotten his campaign to verbally degrade her, but she was still torn between which was better. Arguing or the monumental awkwardness that came with getting along.  
  
At approximately a quarter past two, Paige decided she felt much better attempting to get back at Chris. "Are we done yet, you drone like some documentary from the History Channel?" Chris frowned from where he was on the wall, arms folded, trying for some rebellious loner look; but without his shirt, he much more resembled a Calvin Klein underwear model.  
  
"No, we're not done, there's *always* the chance you'll screw up." He muttered bitterly.  
  
"Are you implying something?" Paige snarled, balling her fists and marching briskly toward him. Chris was desperate to avoid another fight, slip of his tongue and inevitable physical pain at Paige's hands, leapt to a quick excuse.  
  
"I found something about what happened this morning!" Chris replied quickly. Paige's anger lessened and her profound curiosity emerged.  
  
"What's your lead?" she asked slyly, trying to mask her excitement at the prospect of finding answers.  
  
"Goblin." Chris said shortly, going over where he'd hid the green blood and the glass within a brown rag. "I found this going down the stair," he explained, gently handing Paige the glass, the blood dry and peeling like paint. "My last memory is of us gong downstairs, so I figured it was worth a look. I examined it and found some similarities to goblin blood. Their mountain homes aren't too far..." Chris trailed off and realized the flaw in his plan. He rolled his eyes skyward and remembered Leo was still watching.  
  
"... and we'll go investigate." Paige finished, rewrapping th glass and holding out her hand as if to orb. "We'll just tell Leo we went out for some real target practice." Azure orbs swirled in Paige's open palm and she was holding Chris; shirt. "Found this in my room." Chris put the shirt on without hesitation, fumbling a bit. Paige withheld a laugh and allowed Chris to orb her to the mountains.  
  
For a few moments, she stood in awe when her feet met dusty little bit of gravel and sand, rising up slightly from her disturbance. The mountain loomed before her, shaping miniature hunchback shadows from the gleaming golden two o'clock sun. Clouds had already begun to gather above them and the shade of the sky altered between baby blue and the verge of rainy gray. The mountains themselves were wrinkled and craggy with age and erosion, frowning down at the pair. Paige numbly noticed that Chris had taken her hand and was leading her to the base of the mountain into the dank dark and smelly mouth of a small cave. Chris had immediately noticed, but the crevice would've never caught Paige's eye otherwise. When her neck began to ache, she tore her eyes from the cloud penetrating mountaintops and yanked her arm away from Chris with an irately whispered, "I'm *fine*!"  
  
"Bring up an energy ball!" When they had ventured too deeply into the dark hole, Chris requested light and had gripped Paige's arm again, much more hesitant to relinquish his hold in the blackness. Paige grunted when she concluded her circulation had been fully cut from her fingers. She reverted to breathing through her mouth as a putrid stink entered her nostrils and shoved her close to a gag, which would've unbalanced the eerie silence choking the already tiny cave. Suddenly, Chris tightened his grip and yielded his footsteps.  
  
"What the-"  
  
"Shut up!" Chris reprimanded urgently. Paige pivoted and flung herself from Chris' side.  
  
"I am *tired* of you treating me like you are superior to me-"  
  
"Paige, *please* be quiet!" Chris pleaded, grasping around in the black for his livid companion, straining his ears for the soft sound of friction between feet and ground.  
  
"No, not until-"Chris never did find out what he would've had to do. At that moment, Paige felt a flabby, rough hand latch onto her neck. At first instinct she hurled her hand behind her to discover who it was, but a surely different pair of hands roughly jerked her arms forward, digging it's sharpened, pointed nails into her skin. Her heart began to beat wildly as slimy, sort of jagged ropes surrounded her stone cold wrists. Chris' muffled scream came to her ears, only he seemed much closer and she grew sure more hands and feet were gathering around her. A stifled thump and the gentle fuzz of Chris' hair tickled her neck. He had been knocked unconscious and he was being held in front of her, his head lolling from side to side.  
  
Paige could hear deep voices in the background grumbling and whispering murderously, in a primitive language resembling pigs snarling. They were arguing, whoever they were. It stopped abruptly and she could hear chains clinking with a different man's gruff moans. Paige shut her eyes, but when she prepared to orb, somebody struggled with her sleeve and pulled it halfway down her arm. Two slick, small knife-like teeth sank into her shoulder. She tussled around at first, but a pair of peeling, scabbed lips surrounded her wound and she experienced freezing, runny liquid pouring onto the cut. She struggled again, and the grip on her arms constricted, the mouth grew more vicious on her skin. Glasses clinked behind her and the man groaning earlier growled painfully. Numbness began to spread from Paige's wound and her head began to pound. She slowly, reluctantly let it drift down, a placid flapping of wings lulling her tot the world of dreams as a grimy, bumpy tongue lapped at her injury...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ya'know, she sold her soul, I wouldn't be surprised if she skipped out on our meeting just out of spite." Piper mused, rubbing her eyes as she crawled out of bed sluggishly. Paige hadn't shown up for the meeting and Phoebe had woken up Piper at six in the morning to confess her fears. Or vague apprehensions, as Piper saw it.  
  
"But she hasn't even shown up here at all! And she lives here, I really think we should go find her." Phoebe urged, attempting to pull Piper toward the door. Piper was in pink pajamas, while Phoebe had hastily thrown on jeans and a red blouse. "She's not in bed, we have to-"  
  
"Can't we just call Leo?" Piper asked groggily, flinging herself back onto the bed and curling up in her quilt's depths. Phoebe froze and smacked herself on the head after a moment's thought.  
  
"LEO!" she called to the ceiling. In the other room, Wyatt's cries rose. Piper growled ferociously into the sheets and smacked her younger sister in the head. The infamous ex-husband suddenly appeared in Piper's path. After a moment's hesitation, she shoved him out of her way and almost apathetically asked "Where are Chris and Paige?"  
  
Leo turned to Phoebe, between bewildered and knowing. "Something strange is going on-"  
  
"Isn't it always?" Piper called, bobbing Wyatt gently on her hip. Leo continued, selectively ignorant to Piper's distance.  
  
"Just last night, I saw them orb to some caves ten miles away from the city. After that their signals vanished for just a few hours." Leo informed them. Phoebe was thoughtful, remembering odd vibes coming from both Chris and Paige the day before. Piper was peeved, remembering how both had nearly torched the attic. "They just now turned up at P3." He finished.  
  
The trio heard jingling come from above like wind chimes on a suddenly windy day. The Elders were calling Leo. It was critical. "I've gotta go," Leo said, "Could you check on them?" Phoebe quickly agreed. As soon as Leo left, Phoebe practically tore Wyatt from Piper's arms in order to get him ready while and ninety-nine percent asleep Piper dropped herself almost literally in her closet. Five minutes later Phoebe ushered dazed Piper and again sleeping Wyatt into the car and drove at top speed, nearly invisible in the fading cloak of night. The sun was a fraction above the horizon as Phoebe hastily parked the car and leapt out. She nearly started hopping in agitation when Piper took a great deal of time unloading Wyatt, walking to the door and jingling her key ring, trying to find the right one.  
  
"This could be bad!" Phoebe chided straight into Piper's ear. Piper grumbled and threw the door open. With her road no longer blocked, Phoebe raced across the darkened room, off to calm her suspicions, the nagging fear that had jerked her awake five in the morning. She tripped over a few things, but stood in the middle of the room for a moment. She could feel Paige was here. She was content and... in Chris' room? Phoebe raced to the door and without bothering to knock heaved it open. Her look of concern converted to a look of horror and she closed the door, backing up against a wall for support.  
  
"What's wrong honey?" Piper said, by now finally concerned. Phoebe, who for some reason had lost the ability to speak, jabbed her finger in the air toward the door. Piper frowned, opened the door, and understood Phoebe's reaction. "Ohh..." On Chris' couch bed, he and Paige were curled up against each other, both looking to be devoid of clothes or covering, save a white sheet over both of them. They were both smiling slightly. Piper's stomach dropped to her feet and she shielded Wyatt's eyes, quietly shutting the door. She leaned against the door, mimicking Phoebe's heavy, horrified breathing and considered what she had just seen. "It could have been worse..." she started slowly.  
  
"Phoebe gripped her shoulder and looker her dead in the eye. "How?" she asked in an unusually high, squeaky voice.  
  
"They could be related."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
And that folks is what I like to call irony. I feel bad; the ending was a little rushed. I'm terrible, I think I make readers a little confused and never tell them early enough what's going on. But hey, practice makes perfect... in theory. While I was typing this up, I couldn't get "The World Will Know" out of my head. Has anybody seen the movie 'Newies', it's my official newest obsession. If you have, pretty please tell me you hated Sarah Jacobs. Bye! 


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